Himachal feels the heat in March, relief likely from this weekend

Himachalis are likely get a relief from the sizzling heat as the MeT department has forecast rains and thunderstorm in the middle hills and snow at isolated places in the higher reaches this weekend.

A fresh Western Disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan Region from Friday night and may cause rain and snow on March 19 and 20, said Shimla MeT centre director Surender Paul. Weather will be dry from March 21 onwards, he added.

Meanwhile, the weather remained dry in the state over the past 24 hours, with both night and day temperatures soaring way above normal.

Paul said that temperatures were abnormally high in the hill state, with departures of 8-9°C in the average maximum temperature and 5 to 6°C in the average minimum temperatures. At some places, day temperatures were up to 13°C above normal. Comparatively, night temperatures were high in the hills and low in the plains.

Shimla records all time high min temp

State capital Shimla has recorded an all-time high night temperature of 18 °C in the month of March, said Paul. This is a departure of 11°C from the normal.

Meanwhile, Keylong was the coldest with minimum temperature recorded at minus 0.8°C. Kalpa recorded 7.7°C—at least 8°C above normal. Manali recorded a low of 11.2°C, Dalhousie 10°C, Palampur 16°C and Dharamshala 14°C. Una was warmest with day temperature recorded at 34.4 degrees C, slightly less than yesterday’s 35.7 degrees.

Hill-town of Dharamshala recorded unusually high maximum temperature at 32°C, a departure of 11°C from normal. Shimla (26.3°C) also recorded day temperature 11 notches above normal. At 27.5°C, Manali also saw a departure of 12°C.